This invention relates to a collation error indication system for a collator.
A conventional type of collator comprises a plurality of paper supply shelves spaced in a vertical direction and each of paper supply shelves supports a stack of paper sheets to be collated thereon. A paper feeding mechanism is arranged at each paper supply shelf and then is driven by a drive mechanism in such a manner that the top sheet in the stack is successively removed from the stack and fed into a paper collating section of the collator. Then during each collation cycle, the paper sheets are successively fed one by one from each paper supply shelf into the paper collating section of the collator.
For the purpose of accomplishing a high speed collating operation, it has been proposed to start the subsequent collation cycle in proceeding the preceding collation cycle, and the collator adapted to start the paper feeding for the subsequent collation cycle during the paper feeding for the preceding collation cycle proceeds has been provided.
On the other hand if the collation error would occur due to abnormal paper feeding such as a double insertion of paper sheets, no insertion of paper sheets and a paper catching in the feed rollers or the collating section, it is necessary to indicate the occurrence of the collation error in order to stop the paper collating operation and remove the miscollated object from the collator. Therefore in the conventional type of collator, a collation error indication system is arranged at each paper supply shelf so as to indicate the occurrence of the paper feed error.
However, in such collation error indication system, when the subsequent collation cycle begins in proceeding the preceding collation cycle, even though the occurrence of the collation error is indicated by the system during the preceding collation cycle, this error information is canceled as long as the collation error does not occur in the collation cycle subsequent to the collation cycle with the abnormal paper feeding.
Then it is necessary for the operator to check over a whole page of the collated object because the information of the paper feed error is not clear.